Minecraft Battle Games
by Daisystarre
Summary: Meet Sophie Storm, a thirteen year old who was chosen to compete in the 24th annual Minecraft Battle Game. Follow Sophie as she gets warped into the mysterious world of Minecraft. There she meets Tomen, who eventually became her ally. Together they compete in the game of survival. But soon they realize that this isn't a game anymore. This is a fight for life or death.
1. Chapter One: Chosen

**(Written by Sophie. This is a shared account) Hi! This is my first fanfic that I have written. Sorry if it isn't really good. And sorry for any grammatical errors. I tend to make those mistake a lot.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or the Hunger Games series!**

**Anyways, here's the first chapter. Please leave a feedback after you read it.**

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Riiiing Riiiing Riiiing

Yawning, I opened my eyes and turned off the alarm clock. It was only the second day of the week. Another day of school, and another night of homework. Slowly, I got out of bed, got dressed and brushed my teeth. I looked into the mirror. A girl with brown eyes stared back at me, with hair all tangled and messed up. I sighed as I picked up the comb to comb my black hair. After I was satisfied, I walked downstairs. _Something smells good,_ I thought as I went into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Sophie!" my older brother, Rick, said as he handed me a plate pancakes.

"Thanks," I replied as I ate.

"Hey, my birthday is coming up. You better get me something nice," he grinned. He got his own plate of pancakes and sat down next to me.

"Oh right. Your birthday...how old are you again? 15...16?" I asked. I never bothered remembering how old my brother was. And he always forgets my age too. So in the end, it's an equivalence exchange.

"Geez. Don't you remember anything? I'm turning 18!"he replied.

"Right," I said while smiling, "So you can finally leave the house! Now I only have to put up with my younger older brother!"

He sighed. "Anyways," Rick said, changing the subject, "You done eating?"

"Yeah," I said. I got up to get my backpack walked went up to the front door to opened it.

Rain.

"Need me to give you a ride? I can drive now you know. Just got my driver's license," Rick asked, proudly holding up his license.

"No thanks," I replied. Now that I think about it, how could I have forgotten his age? Ever since he got his driver license which was when he's 17, he had been boasting about it everyday.

Groaning, I got my umbrella and ran outside, against the cold, icy wind. It was already spring and still it felt like winter. The sun barely came out and dark, grey clouds always covered the sky, like a blanket shielding away from the sunlight. I ran as fast as I could down the street to the bus stop.

"Hi," I said while greeting my close friend Autumn. Seeing her reminded me of the seasons. The wind blew her long light-brown around, like the leaves during autumn. How her light skin matched the snow on the bare trees during winter. Her pink clothes made me think of the pink leaves, sprouting on the trees, since it was spring. And her green eyes, the same color as the new leaves covering the trees during the summer. (I know this doesn't happen in every state, but in Vancouver, WA, it happens to almost all the trees, except for those Evergreen trees.)

"Hey, heard we are having a test today in math. Did you study?" she asked.

"Nope. I never study, except for the extra problems the teacher gives us," I replied. Out in the distance a yellow bus zoomed by and screeched as it stopped. "Let's get on the bus now," I said.

**- x.X.x -**

School was finally over.

"You can head home now. I have to find a gift for my brother," I said to Autumn, "Unless if you want to come alone."

"I'll come with you," Autumn replied.

"Okay," I said as we walked through the doors of a shopping mall, "Let's start with that shop, Gameville."

"Buy one get one free...celebrating our 100 years anniversary..." Autumn read.

"What is that?" I asked while walking over to Autumn.

"Minecraft," Autumn said, "It's a game of survival. It said that you get limited amount of daylight. You have to build a house so you'll be safe during the night, when monsters come out."

"It looks like a world of Lego," I said. "Let's get it. You can have the other one. We can do multiplayer on it. I'll borrow it from Rick. I'm sure he'll let me use it."

"Good idea. We can each pay half," Autumn suggested as we bought the game.

"I have to get back home," I said, "I will play you after my brother's birthday. See you tomorrow."

"Right. We still have homework to do," Autumn said, "Bye."

I waved back as I walked back home.

"Hey you're back from school. What told you so long?" Rick asked as I stepped into the house.

"Nothing," I mumbled. I went into my room to do homework. Hopefully he did not see the game that I brought. That would ruin the surprise. Homework was easy. I finished it in a few minutes.

"Dinner is ready!" Rick called out a moment later, "By the way, sorry but I borrowed your PSP for a while and I lost it. I will get you a new one."

"You what?!" I asked.

"It was an accident! I'm sorry!" Rick defended himself.

"But all my high scores...their will be gone. Why did you even borrow that? It's mine anyways!" I yelled as I ran back upstairs.

"Hey, don't you want dinner?" Rick called.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" I snapped back. I went to my room unsure of what to do. Then I got an idea. Taking out my phone, I texted Autumn. _I'm coming to your house. Let's play Minecraft._ A second later she replied back. _K._ I got out my computer and the Minecraft game, walked over to Autumn's house. It was already dark outside which was early by the fact that it was only 6 pm. The streets were empty. I know I shouldn't be alone but I needed a break from my brother. At this point, I didn't care if I opened up his present. I wanted revenge. Panting from the long run, I walked up the stairs to Autumn's house and rang the doorbell. It was Autumn who opened the door.

"Hi," Autumn greeted, "Come on, we should start playing now." Autumn and I walked to her room.

"Let's get this game started!" I said as I opened my computer. "I'll make the world."

"Okay," Autumn said. She began to go online to search for some helpful tips.

"Survival mode, name...uh, World One..." I said to myself. "Done!" I exclaimed, "Okay you can join now."

"Alright," Autumn said as she clicked join, "Let's start exploring! So first we have to build a house. To do that we have to collect wood." She left-clicked on her mouse at a tree. The wood fell off and turned into a small block. "How do you move around?" she asked.

"Oh. W-A-S-D. W to go forward, A to go left, S to go back, and D to go right," I replied. I tried it on mine. It was so hard controlling the person in the game. I wandered around the new world. Even though everything was all blocky, the environment looked awesome. There were trees, snow, ocean, mountains, and so many more features left to be explored. Then I realized I was getting farther and farther away from where Autumn and I spawned.

"Hold on. Stay right where you are. I think I lost you."

"Okay, be right back. I will get some water," Autumn said.

"Found you," I said after a while of random searching. I made a mental note to myself: Always leave a trail behind you, or else you will get lost. Still no reply from Autumn. "Autumn, we should explore some more. And we should also start memorizing how to craft certain items. I don't know how to craft any do far!" I laughed. Silence. I looked over to where Autumn was sitting. Was sitting at... _Oh_, I thought, _so when she said she was going to get some water, she actually meant that she was going to get some water, as in from the real world. But shouldn't she be back by now?_ A low moan interrupted my thoughts. I looked back at the computer screen. A zombie! I was excited. Time to kill a monster for the first time. The green zombie walked slowly over to me on the screen. "Die! Die! Die!" I whispered every time I hit it. But no matter what, it just would not die. _Was is just me or is the zombie coming out of the screen? And it is morning...how did it spawn?_ I wondered while I squinted at the screen. My eyes weren't tricking me, I realized in a shock. The zombie was slowly creeping out of its own world. I backed away but the zombie was faster. It grabbed me and pulled me into the Minecraft world.

"Help!" I cried out as I tried to fight off the zombie. Desperately, I reached for pencil and a piece of paper to write down a few words on the paper. Sharp pain spread through me as I got sucked into the computer. I yelp but knew that at this point no one can help me out. The only choice I have was to wait and see what's waiting for me in the pixelated world.


	2. Chapter 2: Meeting

**Chapter two is out! Sorry for taking a long time updating. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or the Hunger Series series!**

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I opened my eyes. _Where am I?_ I wondered as I got up. The pain from last time had already gone away. I was lying on a bed. As I looked around I figured that I was on a train which was moving faster than any car on the highway. Ahead of me was a banner with the words "New York" on it. Beside the words was the logo for Minecraft. Then I remembered, I got warped into the Minecraft game. Looking around the train, I realized that the train was very nice. There were couches, tables, chairs, TVs, computers, and many more. But the question was where the heck was I?

"Your finally awake," someone behind me said. I quickly turned around and saw a boy behind me. He looked a bit older. His hair was spiky yellow. He was wearing a black suit with the words, "Minecraft Battle Games."

"Who are you? And why am I here?" I asked bluntly.

"I'm Joshua, your introducer. Before you ask anymore questions, let me tell you a bit of what I know. You are chosen as a tribute to join this year's first Minecraft Battle Game. There are a total of 26 players," the boy explained.

"How come everything isn't pixelated? Everything looks normal," I asked.

He answered, "We aren't in the Minecraft game right now. We are on Earth. Of course, that is going to change once the game begins. Everything will look like blocks, even the animals. However, the tributes will still look normal." Continuing, "The tributes will have to fight one another. During that time period, no one can log out. You guys each get three lives. Once these lives are used up, you die not only from this Minecraft world, but also from Earth."

"So I have to kill everyone else to win? And if I lose then I will die? I quit!" I said in horror.

Joshua shook his head. "I'm sorry. There's no backing up. Once chosen, you have to compete."

"But why? What if I escape? What if I die before the contests?"

"There's no way to escape. You can try if you want. And if you die, then you will basically be letting your state down. You are from New York right?" Joshua asked.

I nodded.

"Exactly. If you don't even try to win, then your letting New York down," he said. It all seem really vague to me but I decided to go along with it. I nodded again. "Well two players, a boy and a girl, are chosen from 13 states. The Capitol chooses them."

"What if we got allies and fight together? Can two people win or-"

"No," he interrupted, "You guys will eventually haveto kill each other. There will be food shortage and Mobs that are programmed to kill you."

"But I'm not good at playing Minecraft. This is my first time playing!" I said slowly. _I will surely die,_ I thought.

"Then you will have to learn fast. There are people here who have been playing Minecraft for years. Don't worry. The people that are hosting the game will give you guys a week of practice. But it's going to be on the lite version of Minecraft so there won't be any hunger and you can't make any items. Also, there won't be any multiplayer. You won't be in the game. It will be more like an RPG game. But the real battle will be a VRMMORPG game.

"What's that?" I replied.

"What? VRMMORPG? Oh that's virtual reality massive multiplayer online role-playing game. So basically you will be in the game. Anything in the game that happens to you will be real."

"So basically you get it now don't you? All you have to do is to kill 25 players and then you will win and get to go back home. That's all for now. Your mentor will tell you more tips later," Joshua said.

"Where are we right now?" I asked.

"In your room on the train. Every tribute has their own room. This is where you will spend the next one or two days. The train is headed towards the Capitol. Now, do't get this confused with the capitol, Washington D.C. or in your case, New York City. We are heading towards a place that is unknown to almost everyone. The host of the 24th Minecraft Battle Game will choose a biome for the game. Now, hopefully it will be somewhere with lots of cattles, lots of plants, and a good place for shelter," he chuckled, "But who knows. You guys might end up in an ocean biome where you have no choice but dig while swimming. Remember that you are not invincible, you can and will at one point get hurt and might drown. Anyways, there should be a director to take us to the Main Room. In the meanwhile, let's just relax and wait for a while," Joshua said.

"Whose the other tribute that came from New York?" I asked curiously.

"Huh, you people just won't relax won't you? But about your question, I'm not sure. We will see at the Main Room," he answered.

"How do you know everything about this game? Have you been in it before?" I asked.

"Um..." he started to say.

Just then, the door opened and in walked a director.

"All set?" the director asked us.

"Yes," I replied.

"Follow me," he said as he turned to walk away. I was led to a large room. Inside there were a few people. "These are all the other tributes," Joshua said. He backed out the door. I looked around the room. The age range seemed to be 12 to 17. I looked back at the stage as the lights start to darken. The mayor in a black suit stepped on to the stage. His bright orange hair stood out.

"Greetings everyone! I'm Justin Grove. All of you guys will be competing in this year's Minecraft Battle Game!" he announced. Everyone stayed quiet, which wasn't surprising at all. "Each individual should have met with an introducer by now," he continued to inform, "Hopefully they told you most of the details of this battle. Next, I will assign tributes from the same states a mentor." Justin began to read off the tributes and their mentor. "Rhode Island, Lily and Nixon. Your mentor will be Owen…" I listened for New York. _Who will be my mentor?_ I wondered. _Hopefully it is someone who is fully experienced with this game. I want to win this and get back home, to my family._ _My family! What will Rick think when I didn't come back home that day? He's probably worried. And Autumn. Hopefully she saw my note, but she'll have no way to save me. Did I disappear from Earth? Or is my body still there…_ I shook my head. _There's no time for grief! What had happened is what had happened. I got to stay focused! _"New York, Sophie and Tomen. Mentor, Cameron…" The mayor continued to read of the list. "And last but not least, Maryland. Ashley and Jonah. Mentor, Nick. Now you guys may meet together.

I walked around the room to find them. Someone tapped me on my right shoulder. Quickly, I turned around, expecting to see a tribute or the mentor. No one. I turned the other way. A boy, about the same age as me grinned.

"Ha! You fell for it!" he laughed. I looked at the boy with dark, curly hair. His brown eyes stared back at me.

"So you're Tomen?" I asked even though I already knew the answer.

"What do you think? Of course I am Tomen," he replied. I smiled.

"How did you get onto this game?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't really know. I was playing on the computer and I fell asleep. The next day I was here on the train. I don't really like this place. But here isn't much of a choice but to compete. I wish I can escape!" he said.

"Yea, same here. I was playing Minecraft on my computer when this zombie dragged me in. And the next day I'm here," I said back, "Don't like it here either." _Do they have the right to do that?To just take someone and force them to kill another? _I wondered. _I don't think so…so why haven't any winners from the past said anything about this? No one ever heard about this! Who gave the Capitol the control to take over our lives? The Capitol shouldn't have this right! This interferes with the eighth amendment from the Bill of Rights! I'm going to win this game! I have to. It's the only way to protect other people from the nation._

"Hey, you okay?" Tomen asked. I must have been staring blankly at the floor for too long.

"Yeah," I said.

"Do you want to be allies?" Tomen asked.

"Um..."

"Please? We all believe the same thing. We should form an alliance!"

I looked at him, unsure whether I could trust him or not. _But what if he isn't trustworthy?_ _What if he's a traitor?_ I thought to myself. Finally, I reached my decision. "No," I replied simply. I didn't want to form an alliance and having to kill them or watch them get killed.

"B-but" he stammered, "Then we should form a truce."

"Alright," I said after a slight hesitation, "If you don't kill me, then I won't kill you. Unless if it's the end."

"Okay. Thanks. I don't know about you, but I don't like killing people, especially people from where I came from. It just seems wrong," he whispered.

"So you're not going to kill anyone?" I asked.

He slowly nodded his head. "I will kill people, so I can get out of here as fast as I can. The faster other people die, the quicker I get to go home. But anyways, come on, let's explore this place!" He smiled again and ran ahead. After a meters, he looked back to see if I had followed. I sighed. Maybe he could be trusted. After all, all he wanted might just be an accompaniment.

"Where is our mentor?" I asked suddenly, remembering our real purpose to be here. The other groups had received their mentor and were already starting to train. We were the only ones without a mentor.

Tomen walked over to me. "Maybe we don't have one. Be right back, I'm going to ask someone." A few minutes later, he came back. "I don't know, but apparently we don't have a mentor. Cameron dissapeared somewhere."

"What?" I asked. I could not believe it. All the others have a mentor, everyone except us! _Now how am I able to survive? _I asked myself.

"Don't worry," Tomen said cheerfully, "I have been playing Minecraft for a long time. I'll teach you!"

"Thanks," I replied. Together we walked over to the training room. Tomen led me to a row of computers. He sat down in front of one and opened the Minecraft game. Motioning me to sit down too, I got a chair beside him.

"Alright. Here's how you play..." Tomen said as he began to teach me. I watched and listened to Tomen's instructions and advice. _Man. This is way harder than I thought. There is so much recipes that I have to remember. And so many facts about the enemies to remember,_ I thought. After listening for an hour, I decided I need a break from Minecraft. Not the game itself, but the nonstop staring at the computer screen. As I looked away, black dots invaded my vision. Shaking my head, I stood up.

"Let's take a break and try out some physical trainings. I'll practice climbing trees," I said.

"Okay. I will be practicing some other skills. Want to sword fight together later?" he asked.

"Fine with me." I walked away from the computers and to the place with a variety of trees. Taking a deep breath, I ran up to one and jumped. My hands reached out above me and grasp on a sturdy branch. Scrambling my way up, I managed to reach the top. I looked above me. More trees, more trees, about twice as tall as the one that I just climbed. _I can do this!_ Once again, I was gripping the tree, making my way up. I was almost at the top when a branch that was supporting my legs broke. Fear overcame me as I was left dangling in the tree. As I look down, I realized that I would injure myself if I fall. I looked back up again. _There must be a way to climb up. _Slowly, I wrapped myself around the tree trunk and inched down until my feet touched a reliable branch. Not letting go with my hands, I slowly added my weight onto the branch beneath me. It stayed._Yes! This will work._ I started to work my way back up again, carefully this time, and soon I was at the top. Smiling, I looked down once more. There were many skills that you can learn. _Everyone looked like spiders,_ I thought as I slid my way down the tree until my feet were placed onto the solid ground. I had never climbed that far up. _Maybe this game won't be so bad…unless if I died. I need more practice fighting,_ I decided, walking over to Tomen. "Want to go sword fighting now?" I asked.

"Okay. Just after I finish this set of throws," he answered. He was practicing throwing knifes. I watched in amazement. Every knife hit the target, whether it's moving or not.

"Wow. You have a really good aim!" I said. _Okay. Another note to self. Don't fight with Tomen when he has a knife. He'll kill you!_ I thought to myself. _I wonder what kind of abilities other people have._

"Okay. Let's go," he said as I followed him to the sword arena. I picked up a blue sword. It was perfect in weight and balance.

"I'll use this one," I said. Soon the battle began. He ran up to me and started slashing. I held up my sword and blocked every move.

"Your good at this," Tomen panted as he dropped his sword.

"I started sword fighting when I was in fifth grade," I said. "Anyways do you want to continue or do something else?"

"Continue. There's no point in switching now since there's only a few more minutes until lunch," he reasoned.

"True," I agreed. We started to fight again. The same thing happened. He slashing randomly with his sword, and me blocking every move. Soon, the clock rang twelve times, saying it's noon and time for lunch. Everyone stopped what they were doing and went into the lunch room. Tomen and I followed the others. The lunch room was huge. There were circular tables scattered around. At this point, it was obvious who was forming an alliance and who was playing solo. Estimating, there were about six tributes wanting to team up. All of them look strong and tuff. I gulped. "This battle is harder than I thought," I quietly said to Tomen.

Tomen nodded but didn't say anything. Instead he just went to get some food. I felt bad. I was sure that he still wanted to form an alliance with me. _Too bad. I'm going solo on this._ I thought but this time, I wasn't so sure. The line that I was standing was long. Patiently, I waited until it was my turn. Grabbing a sandwich and a bottle of water, I walked to an empty table and sat down. Tomen was no where to be seen. I started eating my food, not realizing how starving I was until now. _In the game, I have to find food too._ I thought. By now, I already had a to-do list in my head for the game. And the list just kept on getting longer and longer.

"Hey, can I sit next to you?" a tiny voice beside me said.

I turned around and saw a girl, no older than I was beside me. She had the same hair color as me and the same eye color. "Sure," I said making room.

"Thanks," the girl replied shyly. "So your Sophie?"

I glanced quickly at the girl. "How did you know my name?" I asked.

She shrugged. "In case if you haven't notice yet, most people know you."

I stared at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "Look, they saw you sword fight just then. They know you are good at that. You have to be more careful." She saw how confused I was and explained on. "During training, practice stuff that you are bad at. That way, the other tributes won't know your tactics. Then when you show the game controllers, do the stuff that you are good at."

I was getting really confused. "Wait who are the game controllers? And when do I have to show them?" I asked. I had no idea why this girl was helping me but I figured this must be useful.

"The game controllers are the people who add stuff to the game. For instance, they can shoot fireballs at you or make the water flood. They try to make the game more interesting. You do realize that we are being recorded. They are using this for entertainment. Anyways, in a week, you will be privately performing what you can do to game controllers. They will rank you from one to thirteen. Thirteen being the best and one being the worst. Haven't your mentor tell you these facts yet?" she asked.

"We don't have a mentor. He disappeared somewhere," I replied sadly.

"Oh. Really? That is unusual. Ask me if you have any questions," she said helpfully.

"Thanks. Wait. I never happened to get your name," I said as I ate my food.

"I'm Lily," she said, "Lily Evergreen."

- x.X.x -

That night, I jumped into bed, feeling so exhausted. At lunch they had announced that there was going to be a opening ceremony. Each of us were given a stylist who will give us the clothes that we will wear tomorrow. Also, the following day, each of us will be interviewed with the game director, Micheal Dinks. All of this will be recorded and broadcasted among TV. _Now that I think about it, why haven't we ever seen one back at our homes. Was this just for the Capitol people to see it?_ I wondered. I turned around in bed. Slowly my eyelids felt heavier and heavier as I drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Hatred

**Chapter three is finally posted. Sorry for taking a long time to write these. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft or the Hunger Games series.**

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A knock on the door woke me up.

"Breakfast is ready. Come on out!" someone called.

"Coming," I yelled back a bit irritated. _Geez. Don't they ever let people sleep in peace here? _I grumbled to myself. I dragged myself out of bed and started to get dressed. I opened up one of the curtains. We were still on the train, going faster than ever. _The training area here is already big enough. Will that mean the training area at the actual building will be bigger? _I wondered as I opened the closet in my room. In there were a bunch of clothes, way prettier than the ones I had. Trying on those clothes instead, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, do my hair, and all the usual stuff I do every morning. After I was done, I went to my door and opened it.

"Holy shit!" I yelled in shock and surprise. In my doorway, was a spider web, so thin that you barely can see it. I backed away slowly, wondering what to do.

"Oh. Your not dumb at all," someone said near the entrance to my room. I heard footsteps as a tribute walked up to my door with a sly smile.

"Who the heck are you?" I asked sharply.

"Sulfur Chou. Tribute from Delaware," he replied. He was twice as big as me, probably around seventeen years old. His amber hair was all spiky, kind of reminded me of a porcupine.

"And why are you here?"

"Because I can. I was just testing how dumb are you. And turns out, you are smarter than I thought. But I'm telling you, once in the arena, you are going down!"

I could barely control my anger, but I held it down. "Get out of my way!" I said through my gritted teeth, ignoring his last comment.

Suddenly, he took out his knife and threw it at an angle so that it caught on my sleeves, ripped a hole, and flew into the walls across my room, just barely missing my skin.

"Can you make that accurate of a shot? Can you?" he teased, "Next time, it is going straight at your throat or your heart, which ever way is quicker for you to die"

I had it with him. I hate it when people tease me, not to mention attacking me when I didn't do anything bad. This was the last straw. Taking out my own knife, I charged at him, ready to unleash my flurry. I must have caught him off my surprise because I had already pinned him to the ground before he reacted. "Now who's going to loose? Huh?" I asked with satisfaction. My knife was right next to his throat.

"You sure are impatient, aren't you?" he said as he threw me across the hall. I crashed into the side wall and fell to the ground. Moaning from the pain, I tried to stand up. "I do have to admit, you are pretty brave. To attack at me when I'm twice your size, and way stronger than you," he commented nicely for the first time. "But," he continued, his friendliness gone, replaced by evilness, "Bravery won't help you at all in your case. Everyone on my team is bigger and stronger than you. You'll be dead in a few seconds!" I inched away to the center of the hall, so I'm straight ahead of him.

Secretly, I took out another knife and threw it at him. It missed.

"So," he turned around to look at the knife I had thrown, "You are not admitting defeat. Well, let's end this." He took out another knife and threw it at me. By then, I was already at my feet, dodging that knife. Whoosh. Another one came at me, missing me just barely. I looked back at him. No more knifes. _I was safe. Must have ran out of knifes, _I thought to myself, _I mean, who will carry more than three knifes in their pocket?_

Another one coming behind me flew past my neck.

"Never let your guards down. You have to keep a constant lookout. Who's ahead of you, behind you, sideways from you, above, and even below you," a deep voice said behind me. I turned my head to see another man, just a bit taller than Sulfur. In his hands were two knifes. I could tell he was already aiming at me with his eyes.

"Tolkio Mawer. State: Boston. And you must be Sophie? The one who's a squirrel and know nothing but climbing trees?" he taunted loudly. "Tsk tsk. I'll bet you won't even last through a day in a terrain without trees."

"What are you? Five? Everyone knows Boston isn't a state! It is a city, idiot. You are from Massachusetts; Boston, Massachusetts."

I took out my last knife and charged at him. I got a hold of him, ready to stab the knife in him, when someone threw me and Tolkio apart from each other. I landed and skidded across the floor.

"It is time to get of the train," a woman said ahead of us. I looked outside the window and realized we weren't moving at all. "And, save the fighting for the arena," she glared at the two boys. Then she looked back at me. "You didn't try to fight them did you?"

I shook my head.

"Alright you two. Come with me. I will determine your punishment."

I couldn't help but smile.

"But she was-" said Tolkio.

"I don't care. Come with me, now!" she stomped out of the hallway, dragging the two bullies. One of them looked back at me. Clearly, he didn't look so happy. I laughed silently. The boy's face turned beet red as he slowly raised his hand and made a slashing motion at his neck. After that I walked straight back into my room to pack up my stuff.

-x.X.x-

"Let's welcome this year's tribute!" someone announced over the speaker as we got off the train. A round of applause was given. Ahead of us were rows and rows of people, shouting and cheering at us. I was sure that this sound could be heard miles and miles away. Each state had their own floor.

"Come with me you two," a lady said to me and Tomen. "You guys will be on floor 11."

The doors of the elevator opened and we walked out. The lady guided us to our own rooms where we put our stuff down.

"Lunch will be in the cafeteria at the lobby in four hours. For now, you guys may do whatever you want," she said and with that she walked back into the elevator. I watched as the elevator door closed, wondering if there's any real door away from this place. I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I spun around fully this time to see Tomen with the usual smile.

"Want to go and explore this place? We still have a long time till lunch begins."

Speaking of food, I felt my stomach grumble of hunger. I didn't have a chance to eat breakfast today. "Sure, but let's go and find a snack area first. I'm hungry."

"Okay."

We started to search around our floor. To me, this was way more epic than what we have at home. Our home was only two stories high. The top level contained about only four rooms. But this was the largest floor I've ever seen. There were delicate carvings on the wall as decorations. And the floor was polished very smooth. To me, this looked like a castle.

"Oh, it's a swimming pool. An indoor swimming pool!" I said happily. I love to swim. That was my favorite sport.

"Let's look at that room. Think there's candy there," he said as he dragged me away from the pool.

He opened the door as we approached the room. I gasped. Inside was piled with candy, every single kind. The candies were in a huge stack on the ground. There were no tables, just a room full of candy. And the best part was that this room was just for us, meaning we get all of it.

"This is awesome!" I said as a raced inside the room. "Don't you love this place?"

I heard a muffle and turned around my head. Tomen was already buried in the stash of sweets. You barely could see him, except for his legs. I laughed as I took a piece and ate it. Yum! Then something came to my mind.

"Tomen," I began to say.

No response. I sighed as I walked over to him, who was still buried deeply. _Can he even breathe in that? _I wondered.

"Tomen!" I repeated louder.

"What?" he replied faintly.

"Are you sure we are allowed to eat these? I mean who will put a room full of candy here?" I asked.

"Of course we are allowed to eat it. After all, who cares?" he said as he opened another piece and ate it. Then he stuck his head back into the pile. "I'm going to look for some chocolates. They are apparently very rare. So far I haven't even seen one!" he said as his voice quieted down to a whisper.

I sighed again. I defiantly do not want to be here. I rather be training.

"Okay. I'll go and train. You can come if you want," I said not even sure if he had heard me.

"Whatever," he murmured.

I walked out of the room, not after helping myself to some candy though. Also, I took a few and put them in my pockets, just in case I felt snacky in the middle of training. As I rode the elevator down to the bottom floor, I thought about what activity I wanted to do. Then I came to the final decision, I shall learn all about how to make stuff in the game! No one was there at that station but I continued walking over there. _Who knows, maybe this will help me survive the games. After all, we don't have to kill people do we?_ I thought. All there was to that station was a book, full of formulas, and a computer where you can log in. I entered my information and began to practice. Then a pop-up screen appeared. "Congratulations on being the first person to use this station..." I skimmed through the passage to the very bottom, "You will find a book full of formulas in your inventory when the game starts." I smiled as I closed the screen and the computer. Might as well practice something else.

"Everyone, please be in your level now. Your stylists will come in a few minutes. Remember, today is your opening show," the announcer boomed over the speaker just as I was going to start another session. Sighing, I walked out of the training center and rushed up to the eleventh floor. I couldn't wait! The doors of the elevator opened with a ring. I ran out tried to find Tomen. He was no where to be found. [Could he still be in the candy room?] I wondered as I pushed opened the door. There was a large hole in the floor with piles of dirt around it. I slowly approached the pit and peered over. Inside was Tomen, digging up the floor.

"Tomen! What do you think you are doing?" I half yelled half asked.

He looked up and smiled, "Digging!" Then he went back to work as if nothing was wrong.

"And why are you digging?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Candy! There's a huge chocolate with gold wrappings inside! And there also might be a blue one inside! It's true! I read it on a piece of paper! I will get that golden candy and rule the world!" he said playfully as continued digging nonstop.

I shook my head. Sometimes, I wonder how old he was. He looked like he was about my age, or even older than me. But seeing him like that reminded me of a five-year old.

"Okay. Let's get this straight. You decided to dig a huge hole in this floor just for a piece of candy that might not even exist."

He nodded.

"And the best part about this is that we are on the eleventh floor!" I continued with my voice rising slowly.

"Oh. Right. We aren't on the bottom floor..." he said quietly and put down his shovel.

"What the heck? You just realized that? You are such an idiot!"

"Help!" Tomen cried as he tried to climb up the deep hole. Don't ask me how, but he managed to dig an eight feet hole. None of us were over six feet. _How thick is this floor anyways? _I asked myself as I reached over to help him up. Instead I got pulled in.

I landed it face-first in the soft dirt. Getting up, I spat out the dirt in my mouth and turned my head, facing him. "And what was that for?" I asked.

"Hey it is not my fault!"

"Then who's fault is it?"

"Yo-uh...I don't know. But at least we both learned something from this experiment."

"Yes. We sure did. We learned something that nobody in this world knows," I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah! We-I mean I learned that you are very weak. And what did you learn?" he asked as he tilted his head.

Sometimes, like now, I felt like I wanted to strangle him.

"Moving on," I said ignoring his question. "We should focus on getting out of this hole."

"Let's climb up!"

"Yeah. Sure. Fun..." I commented sarcastically once more.

He scratched his head. "You think it's fun?"

"Sarcasm, Tomen. It's called sarcasm!" I loudly said as I closed my eyes trying to think.

"Oh I get it now. Then wanna dig down? And see where this floor ends?" he asked handing over a shovel to me.

"Wait. I don't think this is a floor at all," I said slowly.

"Huh?" he asked looking at me confused.

"What we are on and surrounded by is dirt. Soft dirt. And what kind of floor is made out of this. And since when have you seen a floor that is eight feet, and counting, tall?" I asked.

"So where are we?" he asked.

"I don't know. But for now let's get out of here. I thought of a way," I said to him. I walked over to a wall next to me and started punching out dents, or mini holes. I put my hands and feet on those holes and started climbing up, reaching the top. Looking down, to see if Tomen had followed, which he had, I started looking for my stylist. Just then I heard the elevator door open.

"Tomen, hurry let's get out here!" I whispered as I pulled him out the room and slammed the door behind me. "Go!" We both ran away as possible from the room. Out stylists stepped in front of us.

"Hi! I'm Tamiko," I tall white lady who was wearing a flowery dress smiled at us.

"And I'm Silena," another lady said. She was wearing just a simple shirt with jeans.

"Come one, we will get you all dressed up. But first, you guys will have to take a shower. Where have you guys been?" Tamiko asked.

I looked down at myself and for the first time, I realized how filthy I was. From head to toe, I was covered in dust and dirt. My shirt had turned grey and my pants weren't any better.

"We discovered something in-" Tomen started to say happily.

"In our room," I interrupted giving Tomen an evil glare.

"Right," he stopped himself.

"Okay..." Silena said obviously not buying our story. "Let's focus on getting you guys cleaned up, shall we?"

"Yes. Great idea."

We were led to a shower place. I went in one and closed the door behind me as I turned on the water. I sighed in relief. So close for the others to realize we discovered something. Quickly, I rinsed off all the dirt. After I was done dressing up, I walked out of the shower room. Tomen still wasn't here yet.

"Alright, while we wait for him, let us tell you what we are planning. For the past weeks we were trying to find clothes that will best fit you and Tomen. Here is what we have chosen." the stylists said as they took out a long dress. It was so beautiful. The dress was black in the top. The bottom was light blue with sparkles on them.

"Am I going to be wearing that," I asked.

"Yes," Selina answered.

"What's going on?" someone behind us asked.

"Tomen, you are very slow," I said. "Anyways they gave told and showed me what I'm going to where tomorrow. I believe they are going to do the same with you."

"Okay. And how did you know it was me. Do you have eyes on the back of your head or something?" he asked seriously.

"Or something," I answered.

"Huh?" he asked again.

"Never mind." I looked away.

"No I have to know!"

"Geez. Stop making a big deal over nothing!"

"So do you have eyes in the back of your eyes?"

"Sure I do," I replied being sarcastic.

"Oh. I wish I had them," he replied sadly.

"You are still not getting this sarcasm aren't you?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said and faced the stylists. "So what am I going to wear to the ceremony?"

"This," the two stylists said at the same time. They held up a black shirt along with black pants.

"That's it?" Tomen complained. He obviously wasn't happy with the clothes. "How come she gets to wear that and I only get to wear this?" he whined as he pointed with his finger.

"You'll be happier as the ceremony begins. Trust me. If you are not happy afterwards I will give you something. I promise," Tamiko said.

"Okay," the boy replied.

"Well, let's get you guys all ready for this. The ceremony will start in thirty minutes," Tamiko said as she led us to a large room. Inside were a few chairs and a huge mirror, almost as big as the wall. You guys may change in the bathroom over there," Silena said.

A few minutes later we were done.

"You guys look awesome!" Tamiko complemented.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Now, here take this," Silena said as she handed over a remote control. It was a small one, about the size of a wallet. On it was a red button.

"Don't press it until we tell you to at the ceremony," Tamiko warned.

"No! Press it! You should!" Tomen interrupted as he started to reach over.

I quickly backed away.

"And that is exactly why we gave that to you, not him," Tamiko said. She turned towards Silena. "And I'm glad we made the right choice."

"Everyone, please get into your chariot. The ceremony will begin in five minutes!" someone announced.

"That's the call," Silena said. We were led to a long hall, with thirteen chariots with two horses each. Every chariot was numbered. Tomen and I got on the eleventh one.

"Remember about that remote!" Tamiko called out as she exited outside the hall.

One by one, the other members started to get in their chariot. Not sure what to do now, I sat down and started to pat the horses in front of me. One of them was white, pure white. Another one was pure black.

"A black one and a white one. Peace!" I said to Tomen who wasn't listening at all. We were the only ones with a black and a white. The other horses were different shades of brown. The sound of horns blasted our ears as the doors opened. It was dark outside. A red carpet ran through the middle of the two sides. We were going outside. A loud cheer ran out from the audience. One by one, the horses began to pull the carts.

"Let's welcome Virginia," the announcer said as the first chariot entered the audience's view. They waved and the audiences cheer louder.

"Second. Say hello to Massachusetts!" the announcer continued.

Soon after a while, we were next.

"Eleven, cheer for New York!" the person said over the speaker. We slowly proceeded forward. I scanned my eyes around the audiences and found our stylists.

"Push it!" Tomen eagerly said.

"No!" I whispered back. I looked up at the audience, still keeping an eye on the stylists, and waved. They cheered. "Wave to them!" I nudged Tomen, who was just standing there.

"Fine," he whispered back. Using both of his hands he waved. I continued doing the same thing. Then, out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Silena make a pressing motion with her hand.

"Alright. I'm going to press it now," I told Tomen as I pressed the red dot. Suddenly behind us, red missile like things burst out. Boom! I looked up. Fireworks. Immediately the audience quieted down as they watched. Red, blue, green, orange. Colors filled the sky.

"This is amazing!" Tomen cried out. The audience began to cheer again.

"Look!" I said as I pointed to our clothes. Instead of the black colors, out clothes were now glowing, shining bright with neon colors. The colors changed constantly. Every one was amazed at us. Even the announcer, who almost forgot to say the next two states. This was the best day ever! The fun soon ended as we went back into the building. Each tribute started to board on the elevator.

"Show-offs," someone said. I immediately recognized his voice.

"Sulfur!" I exclaimed. He was glaring at me. "You are the one who got in trouble. If I were you, I wouldn't do anything this time."

"You think I'm weak don't you? Wait till you see my team's leader," he huffed as he turned around and stalked away.

"You know him?" Tomen asked behind me.

"Yep," I replied under my breath. _This is only the first few days. And so far, I already made an enemy. _

‧:❉:‧

Autumn had just come back from the kitchen. Holding a glass of water in each hand, she walked over to her computer. _What's this?_ she wondered as she picked up a piece of paper in front of a computer.

"Help! I'm being pulled into the game of Minecraft…" Autumn read slowly. _Who wrote this? And what is this laptop doing here? And why did I bring two cups of water? _

She sighed as she continued her game of Minecraft.

‧:❉:‧

"Time to sleep!" Rick said as he closed the lights in his room. _Why is the light on in the house? Where is it coming from?_ he wondered as he got out of bed and walked into a bright room. _Who's room is this?_ He looked at the papers on the desk. They looked like homework assignments. _Sophie Storm,_ he thought. _Who is she? And why does that name sound so familiar?_ Shaking away that thought, Rick turned out the lights and walked back to his room. Soon he was fast asleep.

‧:❉:‧

"Did you delete all the memories from their friends and families?" someone asked in a dark room.

Hitting the enter key, the second person replied, "Yes. It's all set. They won't remember a thing about them."

"Good," the first person replied as he walked opened the door and walked outside. The faint stream of lights shined on him, revealing his mask which covered up his whole face.

A red light began to flash. The second person looked back at the computer. "Error" the screen read. _No! It can't be!_ the person thought as sweat poured down his face. Quickly he unplugged the computer, shutting it down.


	4. Chapter 4: Percieved

**I haven't posted in a long time...sorry guys! I will try to post more frequently now. But school is starting soon so don't know if I will have time to write. Anyways here is chapter 4 of the Minecraft Battle Games.**

* * *

A week of training had past. I listened to Lily's advice. Once or twice, I would glance at other people and sure enough, some of them were looking at me. Especially the once that had form an alliance. So much things had happened. We had our interview, had showed the game controllers what we knew, and had dig our way deeper in the hole. It was weird how the hole never ended. There was no level below us, just the endless dirt. Soon, it turned into harder materials. Once or twice we found gold, but it was only a few chunks. I worried about the hole. Sooner or later, someone would find out. But for now, I had a bigger issue to worry about. Today was the beginning of the Minecraft Battle Games. Over the past week I had been training constantly. However, I knew that some people were still stronger than me. Hopefully they would die before they intercept with my path.

"I guess today is the day," Tomen said as he approached me.

"Yeah. We have to start killing people in an hour," I said back. We didn't say much. I didn't really care. He walked away to his room. I tried to predict what was happening back at home. I was sure that Rick was worried to death about me. And Autumn, she was probably wondering what happened to me. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the silence. This was probably the last time it would be this quiet. I sat there for a while, not wanting it to turn into the time for the battle. But of course, time passed quickly and soon, everyone was ordered to meet at the starting place. I stayed seated for a little longer, not wanting to get up, but soon, someone shooed me out. I sighed and walked slowly to the starting place. I felt nervous and excited at the same time. Along with fear. Every tribute was wearing the same thing. That was an order from the director. Our clothes were brown with many pockets. It was light weight but at the same time it reflected our body heat. I was grateful for this. Each one of us were blindfolded and brought to a van.

"Don't move," someone said as he grab my arm. Their grip was gentle but firm. A sharp needle went through my skin. I winced at the pain but slowly it went away.

"It's a tracker," the same person said as he moved on to the next person.

Soon, we arrived at our destination. Taking our blindfold off, we were led to the arena.

-x.X.x-

"10-9-8-7-6-5..." the timer beeped. _Alright. This is it! I have to get to that chest, _I thought to myself. We were all standing on a circular flat platform. None of us dared to step off before the clock reaches 12:00, the start of the game. One touch on the ground, and we would be blown ten feet off the ground, meeting our demise. Before us laid the cornucopia. Inside were dozens of chests, filled with weapons, tools, and many more. There were also pieces of food scattered around. Even though it looked like an awesome place, most deaths from the first day took place in there. I was told that we would feel thirsty here, so it adds to the list containing hunger and basic survival. I looked straight ahead. It seemed like we were on a mountain terrain, however, I did see an ocean and sheets of ice far away. "3-2-1. Let the 24th annual Minecraft Battle Game begin!"

In unison, we stepped off the platform. I raced against the others to get to the chest. Never in my life had I run so fast. Finally I walked through the cornucopia. Most of them were empty except for a few in the back. I ran over and open it. Inside were a few strings, a door, a stone pickaxe, a few TNTs, and a golden sword. _Yes! _I thought as I stored the items in my pack.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_ the noise of the gun echo through the air. 5,6,7,..., 10. There are so many shots that I lost count. So far, I'm estimating that ten were dead.

I turned to go when I saw someone standing behind me. He thrusted out his hands, reaching for my neck. I dodged right in time and ran for the exit. The person cried out in anger and frustration as he ran after me. Realizing that I was about to get killed, I took off across the terrain. It was rocky, but mostly, the ground is even. I looked for a place to hide when I saw a forest. Quickly, I turned my head, but not slowing down my pace. He was already falling behind. There was no way he could catch up at this point, unless if I stop. I ignored the forest on my right and continue down. The guy was already lost in sight. Slowing down, I sat by a rock, panting.

I was sweating, not only from the run, but also from the sun, shinning bright on us. Getting up, I walked to a more shaded place. I needed a place to spend the next few nights. After thinking for a few minutes, I decided to build my house on the mountains. There were many pigs up there. Also, I was hoping that there could be a waterfall, or even lava there. I pushed myself off the ground and I started hiking up the mountain. The mountain were chunks of blocks. To me, the blocks looked quite cool. Every block was very detailed. They looked almost as if they were real but pixelated. Eventually, I reached the middle of the mountain. The sun was getting lower and lower as the clouds are turning pink. _I should build myself a small house just to spend the night here, _I thought to myself as I took out my pick axe and started hacking at the mountain, collecting the bits of earth. A few times, I found coal. I knew this would be best for making torches. Finally I was about done with my cave like house. I added a door so i could see what was going on outside. Now, all I needed was wood. It was starting to get really dark now. I guessed that I should've put a torch in my house, but I don't really know how. Suddenly there is a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I call back walking slowly to the door.

"Me! Let me in! Please!" someone outside calls. Tomen...

I sighed as I open the door. In crashed Tomen, who closed the door behind him.

"It's dark in here. Add a few torches," he said as he put a few on the wall.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked, " I thought I made it clear that I'm going solo on this."

"You made it clear...?" he started to question as he turned to look at me. "Oh it's you!"

"Tomen...I don't know what to say about you."

"Then don't. Anyways, zombies! They were chasing me," he whispered his eyes turning large.

A low moan came outside of my door.

"What the heck? I better kill it before it attracts the other enemies," I said to myself as I made my way to the door. Tomen grabbed me, pulling me back.

"Don't. You will be just risking your lives. They can't get in here anyways," he said as he let go, "I'm going to fix us some dinner!"

"Alright. I'll dig up. I want to see what up there anyways," I said as I took out my pix axe from my bag.

"Okay. But just wait for a while. They are going to show who people died today. In the meantime, the food is ready. Let's eat!" he said.

I walked over to where he was. It was a chicken. "Thanks," I said while taking a piece.

"No problem. I'm going to open the door so we can see the sky," he replied. Tomen walked over to the door and opened it, only to find a swarm of zombies. He shut the door quickly. "Alright, let's dig up and watch from there," he said, panting.

"Told you," I replied back. We start digging up. Soon, we managed to make somewhat a balcony.

The black night sky began to light up. Everything began to silent down, even the birds who were chirping not long ago. One by one, the faces of the tributes began to appear on the sky. Nine faces showed up. Nine died today. Two from North Carolina, two from South Carolina, two from New Hamphire, two from Connecticut, and a girl from Deleware. I sighed in relief that Lily made it.

"Nine down. Seventeen left to go," Tomen whispered softly. The sky blackened once again.

"Let's go to sleep. I want to explore more of this mountain tomorrow. Also, I think we are safe from the other tributes for now, since we are the first once climbing this mountain," I said as I got up and walked back to the first floor. I stop and turn around. "You know how to make a bed?" I asked. I really didn't want to sleep on the floor.

"I'm afraid we don't. To make a bed we need wool and wood. I can get wood, but for wool, we need to find sheep. I'll sleep on the floor for tonight," he said as he laid down on the ground. "Good night," he added as he closed his eyes.

Having no other choice, I found a place against the wall. I doubted that I was going to get a good night sleep tonight. The floor was freezing and hard. But like always, I was fast asleep before I know it.

The next day, I went straight outside the door after breakfast. I had to make a good shelter before I intercept the other tributes' path. Tomen insisted coming along and I let him. I figured that he would be a huge help on crafting stuff. All the zombies were gone, but that didn't mean there are not any other dangers. I heard that there were worse monsters than zombies. Most of them were only deadly at night but that did not keep me from worrying about them during the day.

After hiking for a few hours I stopped to take a rest. We had made good progress. From this point, we cannot even see our old house.

"Let's hunt for food now. I will go over there," I said pointing to the part where there were less snow.

"Okay. Then I will go the other way. Meet back here when the sun gets the the high point," he says. With that we ran.

I slowed down quickly checking for any sheep. So far none. As I walked further from the starting place, I left a trail of stones behind me. I knew I could find my way back without trouble, but it was always safe to have something that will guide me. Out of the corner of my eyes, something moved quickly. The movement was so slight that I almost missed it. There was a blur of white. I quickly chased after whatever was causing the movement. There were five sheep. I took a knife from my pocket and aimed it. With a second, the sheep laid unconscious. That was my first kill, not just from the game but from my whole life. The sheep quickly turned into a blocking of wool and a chunk of meat. Soon five blocks of wool and five chunks of meat appeared before me. I collected the wool and meat and stored them in my bag. Now, the sun was only half way up. There was still time to continue exploring.

I wondered how the other tributes were doing. So far, there haven't been any signs of people dying today. Now that I thought of my surroundings, it was slowly turning from a land of snow to a land of plants and trees. Ahead of me laid a forest. I stared into it. Something flied in the forest. Something that reflected light. A knife. Another one flied back and suddenly a thump sound. The shot of a gun rang just seconds after. I thought I caught a glimpse of the defeated person. However, the person moved. Immediately, I turned back. Shuderring, I traced my way back.

When I arrived at the starting place, Tomen was already there.

"I heard a gun fired so someone's dead. Any idea who it is?" he asks.

"I have no idea," I reply back. It was half the truth but for now, it was good enough. "Let's keep moving. Found sheep. Here you cook," I said handing over the meat.

"Wait, this is sheep meat?"

"Yeah. I also got wool. Now I don't have to sleep on the floor!"

Tomen shook his head. "When you kill a sheep, they are not supposed to give you meat. Oh well. Whatever," he said, taking in the meat.

I was only half listening. Right now, I had no idea what to do. Tributes were close. We had to keep moving.

Suddenly it started to get windy. The trees and shrubs rustled behind me.

"Never mind that for now. We should eat first," I said. I turned towards the furnace. "The food is ready, here," I said as I handed a slice to Tomen.

"Thanks," he replied. "Be right back. Getting water. You want some?" He asked.

"Yeah sure," I replied.

Tomen went to a place with snow and took a handful. Selecting a bowl from his backpack, he placed the snow in it and watched it melt. Then he repeated this using another bowl.

"Are you even sure this is clean?" I asked looking uncertainly at the water.

He shrugged. "It's not like we have any other choice, other than to stay thirsty."

"True," I said. I took a rubber band and tied my hair back. The wind was blowing very hard now. "Let's make a shelter. I don't think this wind will quiet down anytime soon."

"I will build it. You get some wood. And collect some seeds also. With everyone cutting down trees, soon there would be no more left," Tomen said.

So I set off to find trees. I went straight to the forest. If only I had an axe... After collecting sixty-four chunks of wood and twenty saplings, I decided it was time to go back. The wind had gone down a bit so I decided to go exploring a bit. It was then when I heard people talking. Being curious, I decided to follow that noise. The noise were coming behind the rows of bushes. I crept down and peered over the bushes. There were about five tributes, huddled in a circle. Each one of them looked strong. They were having a meeting, I believed. I strained over to hear what they were saying.

"...box is almost complete...five days..." someone said.

"Good," another one replied. "And I'm assuming that we will get more powers also?"

"Yes. But to complete it we need a sacrifice..."

_What are they planning?_ I wondered. Whatever they are making, I could tell it was not going to be good. I turned to go home. But that was before an arm came around me and covered my mouth, followed by a needle which was stabbed in my arm.

‧:❉:‧

A few minutes ago, Autumn didn't know who Sophie was. But now, the memories came rushing into her mind. "Sophie, don't die. I'll save you!" she said as she ran over to Sophie's house. "I have a plan."


	5. Chapter 5: Memories

**Here's chapter 5!**

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly to find that I was in a stone room with no windows, only a door. My backpack was gone and my arms were tied behind my back with a rope. Four torches lit the room. Outside I heard someone's footsteps as they walked closer to the door.

"She's awake," someone spoke outside.

That voice..I recognized from somewhere...Someone covered by a black mask slowly walked towards me. All I could see was her eyes. The eyes showed no emotions as if the person was controlled. She took a piece of cloth and tied them around my eyes. I couldn't move out of her way. I hated feeling this helpless. The person told me to get up and she guided to somewhere. After about a minute, I was thrown into another place. The cloth that once covered my eyes were ripped off. Cold stone slammed into my face after I was thrown. When I opened my eyes, I was face to face with two other tributes, each of them staring back at me. No one seemed to be surprised.

"What's going on?" I asked to no one in particular.

They all shook their heads and mumbled, "I don't know."

I sighed. I took a moment to observe the surroundings. I was in a stone room. The only way you could look outside was to see through the two vertical blocks if glass windows. In front of the windows you could see a long hallway, lit up by torches on the wall. We were at the end of it. At the end of the hallway, you could faintly see a door, which is possibly the only exit.

I looked back at the two other tributes. They were all girls. We were all siting in a circle.

"Well," I began, "let's all introduce ourselves. I'm Sophie, tribute from New York."

The one ahead of me spoke first. She had gray eyes. Her long, straight, dirty blond hair was down, turning ashen midway because of the low light. "I'm Ashley, tribute from Maryland."

"And I am Alyshia, tribute from Massachusetts," the other girl said. Her black hair was medium-length, only passing a bit from her shoulders.

"Where are we?" Ashely whispered softly. Her voice was uneven. She looked as if she was going to cry.

"I don't know," I answered. "We have to think of a plan to get out of here."

Alyshia nodded. "Any idea who captured us?" she asked.

I stayed silent. I thought about the voice I heard right after I woke up. It sounded so familiar. As if I knew the person from a long time ago.

"Tolkio," Ashley spoke and paused before continuing, "and possibly Sulfur." She shook her head. "They do everything together. And they are so strong and powerful."

Alyshia seemed to be agreeing to

this.

"No," I suddenly said, "There's more." I didn't know how I know what I said, but I'm sure there's more people. That voice I heard didn't match Tolkio or Sulfur's voice. I continued, "When I woke up, someone said and told the others that I was awake. And I'm very sure that voice wasn't Sulfur or Tolkio's. And I'm also sure that I know the person that the voice belongs to."

A silence passed between us. And a low moan and hiss interrupted it.

I jerked my head back. "What was that?"

"Zombies, spiders, skeletons. They put monsters out in the hall. Probably to prevent us from escaping?" Ashley answered. "Come on, let's sleep now."

Ashley laid down on the ground and Alyshia and I did the same. Pretty soon, they were all asleep._ "She's awake..."_

Soon, I saw myself back in kindergarten class again. The low tables were arranged in rows. Small chairs circle around the tables. It was the first day of school and I was walking through the door of the classroom. Some students were already there. The teacher greeted us and I found an empty seat next to a blonde haired girl. She smiled at me as I sat down. Soon, another girl came through the door and sat across from me. Her light-brown hair was in a short pony tail. The teacher said hi to everyone as class started. Then we were all given a blank sheet of paper and were told to draw something. I was the only one out of the three who brought crayons. The girl beside me tapped my shoulders and asked, "Can I borrow a few crayons?"

I sat up immediately. It was all a dream. However, something was nagging me._ "She's awake.."_ the voice rang through my mind once again. _"Can I borrow some crayons?"_ And the voice in the dream played in my mind too. The voices were the same. I thought more about the dream. _Light-brown haired girl sat across from me..me sitting next to a blonde haired girl.._ It wasn't a dream. It was a flashback. That day in the dream was the first day of meeting Autumn, and meeting Abigail. I continued playing the flashback in my head.

_I nodded my head as the girl beside me took some of the crayons. _

_"I want to borrow some too!" the girl across from me said. _

_I nodded while giving some of my crayons to her._

_"What's you're guys name?" I asked them and added, "I'm Sophie. Sophie Storm."_

_"My name is Autumn Scarlet," the girl across from me said._

_"And I am Abigail Jones," the one beside me said. _

_"Let's be friends!" Autumn exclaimed while smiling at us._

_Abigail and I returned the smile and nodded._

That was how our friendship began. We would do everything together. And soon, without the need to say it, we became more like sisters. They were the best friends I ever had. Well, it was like that until the second year of middle school when we were twelve.

_"Tell Cynthia to go away!" Abigail hissed quietly at Autumn and I._

I remembered Cynthia. Abigail, Autumn and I met her in the beginning of fifth grade. And soon, she became our friend as well.

_"Why?" I asked back. " What is your problem with her? Why do you want her to leave so badly?"_

_Autumn stayed silent beside me._

_"Just tell her to leave or never mind! I'll do it myself!" Abigail walked over to Cynthia and started talking to her. I could hear them really clearly._

_"Get away from me. I don't want you here!" Abigail angrily told her._

_I expected Cynthia to question her or argue back but to my surprise, she nodded and walked away. _

_"Abigail! Why?!" I asked her._

_She didn't answer and I could see tears in her eyes._

_"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked softly and less harsh. _

_"Guys, we are going to be late to class. We should go now," Autumn interrupted. She glanced curiously at Abigail but didn't say anything. _

_"Yeah. Let's go," I said. I decided to leave the whole situation that happened before. _

_As we walked to class, one of the hallways was empty. And I didn't remember exactly what happened, but soon, three boys came out and threw us against the lockers. Autumn and I landed badly and couldn't move. I was pretty sure that Autumn passed out. Abigail was lucky and could still move but she was badly hurt._

_"So you guys are bullies? I can't believe you actually want to live your life that way!" Abigail said as she charged at them. "I'll-"_

_One of the boys gripped Abigail's neck, before she got a chance to finish talking._

_"You will what? Fight me? Don't you think you and your friends are too weak for that. At least you can still stand. Why are you friends with them anyways? They can't protect you! They can't even move right now. I would have let you guys go, but I'm bored right now, so," he said as he raised up his fist. His grip on Abigail's neck didn't loosen a bit._

_"Abigail!" I screamed and cried out. "Help! Someone! Help!"_

_The next few minutes was a blur. I heard someone running, but it wasn't coming from Abigail, Autumn, or me. The boy's fist moved fast. The sound of his punch echoed through the hallway. I heard cracking, possibly from the breaking of bones. Then, it was followed by a loud shriek of pain. Then a thump. I looked at the one on the ground, expecting to see Abigail. But instead of the person having blonde hair, she had black hair with blood splattered on it. My gaze met girl's and she nodded. Her lips were moving but her words were covered by my cries. Slowly, maybe it was from all the blood in front of me, or maybe it was because of how she looked right now made me black out. And the last thing I heard was her last words, Cynthia's last words: "I'm sorry Abigail, and you...sis."_

After a few days in the hospital, Abigail, Autumn and I recovered from the injuries. Cynthia died that school day. I remembered the first day we went back to school from that incident. Autumn talking to us as usual. But Abigail seemed different. She seemed distant. When I tried asking her what's wrong, she wouldn't answer.

_"Come to my house after school today?" Autumn half asked half stated._

_"Sure," I replied._

_"Abigail?" Autumn slowly asked._

_"No, I'm busy today," Abigail said quietly. She looked away from us and walked away. It was clear that she wasn't busy today, but it we couldn't force her to come._

_"What's wrong with her?" I asked Autumn. "She never acted like this before."_

_"It's because of Cynthia," Autumn slowly spoke, "Cynthia protected her from getting hit when Abigail hated her. Cynthia even gave up her life for Abigail. I guess Abigail hated that. Don't worry, I'm sure she will return to her usual self again."_

However, weeks later, Abigail didn't change. She joined the cheerleader team a few weeks later. And she never talked to Autumn or me. Whenever we tried talking to her, she would just ignore us. Then one day, February 10th, Abigail started talking to us, for the first time in months.

_"Sophie, Autumn, I want to talk to you guys," Abigail said to us. _

_"What is it?" I asked slowly._

_"Don't talk to me ever again. I don't want to be friends with you guys anymore," Abigail suddenly said. Her hatred in her voice was clear. _

_"Abigail," I started to say but didn't know how to continue. _

_"They were right. Why am I friends with you guys anyways?" Abigail sharply said._

_I heard a gasp from Autumn. "You mean the bullies?"_

_"Yes! Not only them. And the cheerleaders. They are way better friends than you guys. And, they are my new friends," Abigail spoke while glaring at us. "So I don't want to play with you guys anymore." And with that, she walked away._

At the end of middle school, Abigail moved away from New York. She never told us where she was going. Abigail and I never spoke of Abigail again. Over times, we made new friends, but none of them could replace Abigail. To this day, I missed Abigail and Cynthia the most.

"Sophie, you okay? Is there anything wrong?" Ashely whispered behind me.

It took me a second to realize that they were both awake.

"Nothing much," I said simply.

‧:❉:‧

Abigail watched Sophie, Ashley, and Alyshia from the distance. She knew exactly what Sophie was thinking and she was thinking of the same thing too. _Was it right to bring her here? _Abigail wondered. She shook her head. The past was the past. It would be too big of a risk to bring up the memories. And it was too late to go back.

Abigail turned around and watched the builders build. Slowly, she approached the one who was directing all of this.

"We only need three tributes right?" Abigail asked.

"Yes. And I'm assuming you got all three of them?" the teen said back and added, "And who's the last one you caught?"

Abigail nodded. "And the last one is no one in particular," she said and hesitated a while before opening her mouth to talk. "Is it alright if we catch another tribute?"

The director started to say no but was interrupted by Abigail.

"Please! It won't be that hard. Just tell one of your workers to capture another one!" Abigail said but the director shook his head. "Do it!" Abigail's voice was getting louder. "Please! Please...Jared."

Jared paused for a while. By then, all the other workers had stopped working. All of them stared at Abigail. Some with opened mouth, but all of them had a look of surprised or shocked face. This was the first time Abigail had said the director's name.

Jared stared straight at Abigail's eyes and for the first time, Abigail met his. They seemed to freeze right there. Both of them were holding their breath.

"Sure. O-of course," Jared stuttered, breaking the silence.

"Thanks," Abigail replied softly and smiled. She turned to the workers and saw them still staring at her. "What are you guys gaping at? Hurry up and work!"

‧:❉:‧

"We need to get out of here," I spoke to the other two.

"But there's no way to so that. Monsters are outside 24/7," Alyshia replied.

Maybe it was best to stay here and see what happens. But I knew we would be dead for sure if we did that. If Abigail wanted to just kill us, she would've done it already. However, she was planning something important. I watched the monsters walk around aimlessly. Skeletons passed by our window from time to time. Sometimes day would stop and aim their bow and arrows at somewhere. I thought back to the Minecraft game on the computer. When you get hurt, all you need to do is eat. I didn't know if that was how it was here, but I highly doubt it. If we got a cut or other injuries, we need to find a way to heal it, not just from eating.

Before I could figure out what to do, someone outside of our room started mining at the stone. Two of them broke and someone came in. The person then took two stones from her bag and placed it back. Then she turned to us. It was obvious who she was. Even though one or two years had passed, I recognized her immediately.

"Abigail! What are you doing here?" I asked in a mid-tone voice.

Abigail stared straight at me. Her face was ambivalent. There were hatred, confusion, and a hint of sadness.

"Sophie," Abigail said, her voice barely above a whisper. Then she said the next part a bit louder and bolder, "Follow me."

‧:❉:‧

Tomen looked around the small house that he built. Checking that he had packed everything, he closed his backpack and swung it over his shoulders. He managed to pack mostly everything except for the stones. It was now noon, and Tomen decided to find a different place to live. Double checking that he had everything, Tomen stepped outside and headed down the mountain with a sword in his right hand. Once or twice, he would stop and look over his shoulders. Sadly, no one appeared next to the house.

Three days had passed since Sophie went off to find wood. At first, he thought that Sophie forgot about time and had to make a small cave for herself. Then after the second night of not coming home, the possibility of betrayal came to his mind. Sophie never wanted to form allies with him. Maybe she ran away and planned to attack him later on. So Tomen abandoned his house on the third day, which is today.

Tomen sat down under a tree to rest. It was getting colder. For the past few days, clouds blocked the sun. It was getting closer and closer to a raining day. Tomen knew he had to find shelter, but he barely had any stone with him.

Suddenly the bushes behind him rustled and slowly, a small girl came out. Panicking, Tomen threw his sword at the girl. The sword hit right below the girl's left shoulders.

_Boom! _The gun sound filled the air and the girl fell to the ground with the end of the sword sticking out from the girl's body.

Tomen stood there, staring at where the girl was standing. His breath was loud and short. Slowly, he walked over to where the girl was laying and looked at her face.

Tomen gasped. Then relief flooded over him. The girl had black hair and brown eyes, the same as Sophie's. But looking closer, the girl appeared younger and smaller than Sophie.

Shaking his head, Tomen got up from the ground. He was frustrated with himself. That girl didn't even have a weapon in her hand. She didn't even want to attack! He had just killed an innocent girl. And Tomen had to admit, he was scared when the girl first appeared, which is when his instincts took over. He threw his sword without thinking. What had the Minecraft Battle Games done to him? He was turning into a monster!

Just then, Tomen realized that the sun was setting. The only choice he had was to dig down. Taking his pick axe, he mined a small staircase down. Blocking the entrance with glass, he took the bed out from his backpack and placed it near the entrance. Soon he was fast asleep.

Then next day, Tomen woke up to the sound of moaning. Zombies... He waited for a while for the zombies to die but the moaning never stopped. It was until then when he realized that the moaning wasn't coming from zombies above him. The zombies were below him.


End file.
